Educating for Freedom and Responsibility

Abstract

The First Amendment Schools project holds rich lessons in how to change school cultures into "laboratories of democracy"-as well as in how to increase the odds of success for any school reform effort. School reform programs of any sort need to make sure to build in sustainability, to provide ways to spread their lessons beyond the schools initially targeted for reform, and to build in key measures of accountability that will help broader constituencies see their value. It also will help enormously if leaders bring with them a deep understanding of organizational change and leadership theory.